


the remaining warmth of summer.

by Kiyo (kiyopingin)



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Werecreatures, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Blood, Blood and Injury, Comedy, Crack, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Sayo is a precious doggo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-17 18:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15467580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyopingin/pseuds/Kiyo
Summary: Tsugumi never really cared about the so-called 'beast' that haunted the woods and mountain range surrounding her village. That is, until two of her childhood friends went missing.[ Barefoot on The Wind AU ]Current chapter in a nutshell: Hina scares Tsugu, and Lisa laughs at a very embarassed Sayo.





	1. Chapter One: Found.

**Author's Note:**

> Barefoot on The Wind is very nice, I would highly reccomend it for anyone who wants to read something that revolves around Feudal Japan and magic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsugumi really shouldn't have walked into the woods in the middle of the night.

Tsugumi never really cared about the 'beast' that lived in the vast woods that surrounded her village. She would just walk in and out of the dark forest at the most random times, sometimes with a few herbs in her small messenger bag or a few light branches carried on one of her shoulders, and at other times with empty handed but with a soft smile on her face.

That, of course, was up until the night she lost one of her childhood friends to the so-called 'beast'. Ah, poor Himari. She should have never left the safety of her home on the night of a full moon. Tomoe was devastated to hear that the pinkette was claimed by the beast, probably cut into seven pieces and scattered across the woods the mountains or even devoured by the beast itself by the time the news was spread.

Starting from that dreadful autumn night, Tsugumi tried her best to limit her habit of wandering into the woods without a purpose. But of course, if she didn't become the next victim of the beast, someone else would.

Within the matter of weeks, another one of her childhood friends fell into the hands of the beast. According to Moca, the most 'serious' member of her small group of friends went out to the river to clear up her mind after a lond day. The moon just so happened to be full that night, and she was never to be seen ever again.

At that point, the young brunette had decided to take the problem into her own friends- to run into the woods in hopes of finding everyone who has gone missing in the span of many, many years. The caring eldest daughter of the Yamabukis, the weird yet helpful Yamato Maya who was supposed to inherit her father's woodworking bussiness, and of course, her beloved childhood friends.

And so, she decided to begin her journey on the first day of winter- alone. She would've asked either Moca or Tomoe to accompany her, but she figured out that she couldn't put the lives of others on the line. Clad in a thick, padded kimono, she only brought her messenger bag [ which contained food, twigs and a handful of tools ] and her hatchet, which was slung onto her back and held onto place with the help of an old belt. Due to the fact that snow has fallen that evening, she wore the dusty pair of boots that she found in an ancient-looking chest- probably her father's boots that he wore and treasured so much when he was a teenager.

Silently trekking in the snow, Tsugumi wandered into the woods once more at midnight. Nobody [ with the exception of Ako and Rinko- god, those two never seem to be asleep for some reason ] was awake, so she was safe from any kind of human who was butting into one's personal bussiness- safe from anyone who would stop her from setting foot into the land of the unknown.

"Tsugumi..."

Ah. It was the soft voice of the trees again, the voice that she has grown familiar with after all these years of spending hours on end in the forest. The voice that was similar to the sound of wind passing by, only audible to the members of the Hazawa family who have received this 'gift of nature'. The gift that prevented them from being captured by whatever that was lurking behind the safety of the low, weak wooden walls of the village.

The brunette smiled upon hearing the voice, but didn't stop walking. If she stopped now, she won't be able to find the beast- not before it finds her. She just continued to walk, following the thin, almost nonexistant path and just going wherever that it was taking her to.

"Beast."  
"End."

The trees spoke again, this time with words that had a somewhat... odd meaning. What did they mean by that? There was only one way to know. She has to keep walking.

After a while, the path came to the end, and the friendly yet leafless trees were replaced by thorny, dead ones. Or so she thought.

To many villagers, the thorny trees indicated that the end of their side of the forest; the beginning of the beast's territory which stretched from the side of the woods that reeked with the stench of the possibly uncountable number of corpses within it, the mountains up north- and perhaps even the fabled 'City of The Full Moon'.

To her surprise, the forest of thorns, despite looking all dead and ancient, was full of life just like the forest that she would gladly spend hours wandering around in. The trees here were just as friendly as the trees back on her side, and were also capable of 'speech'.

However, they didn't greet her by calling her name. She guessed that it was because they were unfamiliar with her, and they never got a chance to meet up with her.

"Beast."

There was it again. The 'meaningless' warning. What did it even mean, and what was it for? Tsugumi ignored them once again, and continued walking, turning left at an opening and turning right at the next before she reached a small clearing of sort.

Tired after walking for so long, she decided to sit down for a while and take a break. God, why didn't she ask either Moca or Tomoe to accompany her again? At times like this, she would even appreciate Ako's company despite how confusing [ and annoying ] she could be.

"Beast."  
"Run."

Alright. This was getting annoying. Why are they repeating the warning? It wasn't that clear, but then again the trees were rather... blunt. And straightforward. Yet they had good intentions, and have always saved her from whatever danger that was lyinf within the woods.

She scanned her surrounding for a while, looking into the pond on the right and the vast forest that surrounded her on all other sides before looking up into the starry sky. Yet, there was nothing to be afraid of. Or was it?

Stopping at what seems to be a poisonous bush of sort, she was making eye contact with a pair of green eyes that glowed in the dim light of the small lantern that she managed to bring along.

A pair of green, glowing eyes, a set of gleaming white teeth. The eyes seemed to stare straight into her soul, and the teeth were weapons made specially to tear her into pieces [ that's what she thought, of course ].

Now she knew why were the trees warning her.

Why they were giving out those confusing warnings.

Why she should've obeyed them.

The beast was following her the whole time.


	2. Chapter 2: Fall.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsugumi really shouldn't have screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I was sick and I didn't have the motivation to write ;-;

Tsugumi would always try her best not to cuss, even though she would be able to hear Ako doing so whenever somethig happened during her many visits to the Udagawa household in the past. Thanks to this, she was usually seen as a kind, soft-spoken girl who would try her best to take care of the feelings of others.

Or so they thought.

What else would you expect from a 15-year old who just found something, the exact thing that might be the cause of the disappearing villagers?

"EEEEEEEEKK!! I'M GETTING THE HELL OUT OF HEREE!!! RAN-CHAN!! HIMARI-CHAN!! WHERE ARE YOUUU?!"

Of course. With a loud screech, Tsugumi darted off deeper into the woods. There was no path, so she had to be careful so that she won't trip over any uprooted trees or bang into any stray branches. Gods, why did she even decide to look for those two again?

"This way! This way!"

The trees were trying to guide her, but since it was dark [ and she dropped her lantern when she saw the beast ], she couldn't really tell where was she going. To make it even worse, the amount of moonlight that could reach the forest floor was very little, and she could accidentally tumble down and roll off into a ravine if she wasn't careful enough.

Left. Right. Wait, no. Dead end. Go back. Left again. After a while of running [ which was quite difficult considering the fact that she was wearing a thick kimino ], she finally reached another clearing and decided to take the risk to look back at the 'beast'.

And dear Gods, she really wish that she didn't.

The 'beast', contrary to what the other villagers believed, wasn't a huge chimeraic monster of sort. Instead, it was a Hainu, a yokai with the form of a large winged dog, almost the size of a wolf. It had fluffy, grey fur that glowed a dim turquoise, and its wings were black, speckled with small dots of white. At first glance, it would look similar to a friendly yokai that would guard a lost merchant or shrine.

Until she noticed the 'dangerous' details of the beast. Gleaming white teeth stained with blood, and sharp claws that could rip her into shreds within seconds. Powerful muscles that could allow it to chase Tsugumi all night long if it had to. And its eyes were an odd, humanoid yet murky green which showed no emotion whatsoever.

Grrh. The brunette returned her attention to the forest at the thought of the razor sharp teeth and claws. She tried to pick up some speed, but wasn't able to due since she was getting tired.

She was slowing down. Not good. At this rate, the beast could catch up with her at any given moment. After a few more turns to the left and to the right, she finally arrived at a dead end- an 'enclosure' made out of dead trees and large boulders. She's definitely going to die, isn't she?

"Crrk. Crrk. Crrk."

The sound of paws padding through snow was getting louder. The beast was getting closer by the second. All that she could do now is just pray that the beast would change its mind at the last minute and walk away, leaving her unharmed.

A large, canid head popped out from between the trees, followed by a muscular body and strong tail. The beast slowly approached her while growling, teeth bared but eyes still... emotionless.

For every step that the oversized dog took forwards, Tsugumi took one backwards. Alas, after a dozen of steps or so, she hit the trunk of a large tree. "G-good boy..," she said lowly, only to be replied with an aggresive bark from the beast. "O-or girl?"

... that didn't work either. Instead of calming down the beast, it might've angered it even more. The young girl laughed nervously at the beast's reaction. This was definitely the end of her. She could just kiss her wishes of finding her childhood friends and bringing them home safely goodbye now.

Or could she? If she could come up with some kind of stupid plan within the next few seconds, she might be able to run all the way back to the village, probably just with a few cuts here and there.

Maybe climb up the tree? Nah, she's too weak to haul her small body up the tall, slightly thorny dead tree. Fighting back isn't much of an option either, she's not Tomoe.

Hmmm... Ah! She could roll away, get up and run off! It might be a bit uncomfortable, but at least it was better compared to her previous ideas. But the question is, would it work? There was only way to know.

The large canid pounced forward, teeth bared and gleaming with blood in the dim moonlight. Tsugumi ducked and avoided the attack, rolling away before getting up. She turned away and ran off into the night, but not before the beast managed to leave a large, bloody gash on her back. Ouch.

"HIMARI-CHAN!! RAN-CHAN!! HELP!!"

There it is again, her desperate screech for help. Alas, no matter how loudly she screeched and yelled, nobody would come to help her, as they themselves are afraid of what lies within the dark of the woods.

Running into whatever direction that her heart [ or the trees ] told her to, she tried her best to escape. The beast was tailing behind, and considering the fact that the beast was a Hainu- a canid, this chase could go on for the whole night. 

"Skrrrkk!!"

Uh oh. What was that sound? The brunette slowed down to look at what she was standing on. And guess what was it? Indeed, she was standing at the edge of an uprooted tree's trunk, inches away from falling into a hole if sort.

As the beast approached her, she panicked and tried to run off to a safer place. But she failed. Slipping off from the edge, Tsugumi fell down into the hole- into the endless darkness below.


	3. Chapter 3: Why.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "One word, Sayo," she said. "Why."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yukina and Lisa finally make their appearance in this fic! Tae and Hina would be appearing sooner or later, don't worry ^^

"Sayo..?"

The silver night heron opened her eyes, looking around for her friend- either in her human form, or as a huge oversized winged dog. Sure enough, there was no sign of said friend's presence, which caused her to mentally curse at herself due to the fact that she fell asleep when she's supposed to stay up the whole night. But then again, who wouldn't 'accidentally' fall asleep when a fluffy, large cat was curled up next to you? Especially if the cat in question was the person- or thing, that you loved the most.

After looking around again, she confirmed that the tealette was missing. Her mat next to the fireplace was left untouched, which means she left a while ago. A very bad sign, as the moon was full, standing out from the cloud and light still able to reach the glassless windows despite the fog and mist of their area.

The heron turned to the cat, who was still peacefully asleep and curled up next to her. "... Lisa," she chirped softly, trying to wake the ball of fluff up. Although she would really love to go back to sleep considering that the fire was providing warmth to them in the harsh winter, she really had to go and find Sayo before anything happens to her or someone else. "Wake up, Lisa."

"But Yukinaaaa," the cat groggily replied, stretching out the last syllable on purpose. She moved closer to the feathery creature. "It's so warm hereee~"

Yukina sighed. "I want to go back to sleep too, but Sayo is missing," she said, trying to free herself from the light brown feline.

Upon hearing the fact that her friend was missing- yet again, the cat's green eyes fluttered open and scanned the surroundings. True enough, Sayo was missing- nowhere in sight. "... Again?"

The bird lightly pecked at the fluffball's paws and finally managed to free herself. "Let's go," she said. "I really need your 'extraordinary scent of smell as a Bakaneko' to help me with this."

And with that, she fluttered off to the window. Lisa really didn't want to go, but it was her friend that was missing. She got up and shook off whatever dust that fell onto her fur while she was asleep, stretched and leapt up to join the heron.

"HIMARI-CHAN!! RAN-CHAN!! WHERE ARE YOU?!!" a voice rang out, its owner probably screeching at the top of their lungs.

The odd duo looked at each other in confusion. "That must be something that Sayo's after, right?" The cat said, the tone of her voice laced with worry. Unlike them, the Hainu- or in other words, Sayo, was unable to control her powers and would most likely run rampant on the night of a full moon. It was up to the somewhat cold Heron and motherly/big sisterly Bakaneko to make sure that she wouldn't cause trouble to anyone, or rather, anything that lived in the forest and the area surrounding it.

Yukina didn't reply, but flapped her wings and flew off in search for the source of the sound. Lisa jumped off from the window and ran off after her. However, since one was an agile heron that could easily navigate through the trees and boulders in the dark woods, and the other was a fluffy cat who had to jump from branch to branch in order to not get submerged within the thick snow, it was rather difficult to keep up with each other.

"Yu.. Yukina!! Wait for me!!" She called out, almost out of breath after about half a kilometre. Despite having the ability to walk on her hind legs since she was a Bakaneko, jumping from branch to branch while trying not to slip isn't an easy task. A certain moon rabbit would laugh at the sight for sure.

The dark-feathered bird slowed down a bit, allowing her 'friend' to pick up the pace. "Please be quick," she said, avoiding a thorny branch from a nearby tree. "Sayo might've already hurt that thing, whatever and whoever it is."

"You're being mean againnn," the feline said with a droopy voice. "Carry me please~"

"You'll hit your head on a branch."

Ah. The answer was as expected- as harsh and as cold the silver heron could be, she still cared for the safety of others- those who she held close in particular. If she didn't, she would definitely not have forced that sorceress who cursed Sayo into a Hainu to give both her and Lisa forms as a silver night heron and an oversized brown Bakaneko respectively.

"Aww, so Yukina actually does care for me~," said Lisa. She smiled, but it was hidden within the darkness that surrounded them.

They passed by a few clearings, which meant that they were getting closer to the borderline that seperated their dead, unholy part of the forest from the green haven of life and happiness. Was Sayo chasing another human being that managed to cross the borders?

According to the fluffball, the scent of blood and a dog coated with snow and shards of ice was getting closer. Sayo was somewhere nearby. However, said scent stayed in one place, not running around in search of something. It was odd for the owner of the scent to do this, as Sayo was usually on the move. Even if she did kill something, she would only take a few minutes to inspect the kill before running off. But in this case, it has been there since the past half an hour- back when they ran out of their home in search for their canine friend.

"Hey, Yukina..?" The cat called out again as she jumped from a low branch to a higher one in order to stay on the same level with the silver bird. "Do you think that something happened to Sayo..?"

Yukina didn't even turn to look at her 'friend'. "Definitely not," she chirped. "Sayo is physically stronger than the both of us combined. She'll be able to fight off anything with ease. Hell, she could technically throw a kid to a tree is she tried hard enough."

Indeed, Sayo was the strongest out of them all physically. Being a creature that didn't depend much on magic, she would mostly rely on her raw strength instead.

The feline-avian 'demon' duo continued to wander off until they reached another clearing- one that wasn't too far away from the borderline. There was a long, yet not so deep gap that seperated the darker part of their forest from the slightly alive, yet still 'cursed' one on the other side. There were a few uprooted trees near the ledge, forming a broken bridge of sort. And near the jumble of uprooted trees was their oh-so precious friend herself, in her Hainu form.

Lisa jumped off from the tree and onto the large canine's back. Said canine was in a sitting position and was looking down into the darkness below, and turned around before shaking the poor cat off her back. Ouch. Well, at least Sayo trusted them enough to not hurt them at all. In fact, she would go as far as sacrificing herself to protect them.

The silver heron however, decided to perch on the branch of a nearby tree. She looked in the direction that her wolfish, doggish- whatever that you would call- friend was looking at, her eyes twitching at the sight of a young brunette lying down bleeding and unconscious at the bottom of the pit. 

Yukina flew down into the dark pit. She let out a sigh of relief when she found out when she found out that the girl was still breathing and alive. "One word, Sayo," she said. "Why."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yukina is a precious silver heron yokai! Lisa is a Bakaneko, but she's not that stupid! Sayo is a Hainu, and we don't know what she's up to 50% of the time. And Tsugu... Tsugu is a precious child who must be protected at all costs.


	4. Chapter 4: Garden.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hina, please stop scaring people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long! I'll try my best to upload another one on Sunday to make up for it ;-;

Tsugumi found herself in a small garden. The warm rays of sunlight poured onto her fair skin, and the scent of aromatic oils and flowers were everywhere. The was a small pond nearby, and the trees that surrouned the garden were actually alive. What exactly is this place?  
  
"Hello?" She called out, looking for the owner- or even guardian of this place. Garden. Graveyard. Field. Whatever this place is, it was rather lonely and creepy despite the soft scent that wafted around.  
  
The brunette looked around again before she started to walk towards the pond, step by step. With every step that she took, it felt as if something- or rather, someone- was getting closer. Was she being followed?  
  
Ignoring the thought, she continued walking towards the small source of water. She wasn't exactly thirsty, so of course, she wouldn't go there to quench her nonexistant thirst. However, the pond did seem to have a strange aura surrounding it...  
  
Upon arriving at the pond, she was surprised to see a young girl who seemed to be around her age standing next to her reflection in the pond. Tsugumi turned to said side out of instinct, and toppled backwards due to shock when she found out that there really was a young tealette who was standing next to her, eyes sparkling and a smile to compliment it.  
  
The girl giggled and extended her arm towards the younger/older one. "You're funny," she said. Funny..? "It's strange to see onee-chan sparing someone. You must be someone very boppin'."  
  
"Huh?" The brunette said, confused. "I-I'm just trying to look for my friends, and-"  
  
"A large winged dog attacked you! The zappin' spark of energy that you got helped you to run away, but not before you fell into a ravine," she continued. "Right?"  
  
Tsugumi blinked once. Twice. "How did you know all that?" She asked. After all, she was alone with the oversized dog during the time of the pursuit, right? Unless...  
  
The other girl tried her best to muffle her laughter, but of course, failed. "I can see everything from this place!" She exclaimed. How loud. "Isn't it boppin'?"  
  
"Y-yeah..," said the brunette. She was still rather confused of what that is going on, where she was, and how did she get to this place. Magic, perhaps?  
  
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she finally gathered the courage to ask the odd girl a question. "Forgive me for asking, err..."  
  
"Hina! My name is Hina, and I'm part of the Hikawa Clan!"  
  
"Ah, yes, Hikawa-san-"  
  
"Just call me Hina-chan!"  
  
"Alright then, Hina-chan," she continued after being interrupted by the other girl twice. "Do you know how did I get here..? And what exactly is this place..?"  
  
"This is my hideout," said Hina. "It's a small forest realm that I created with my magic, and I use it to keep an eye on the forest."  
  
"And as for how you got here..," the girl said, pausing for a while to scratch her head- probably in search of a valid or coherent answer. "I'm not sure, really."  
  
Ah. So the owner of the realm herself doesn't know how did she get here. It looks like the poor brunette is doomed. Or is she? "Do you have any advice, then?" She asked. "I might be stuck here for quite a while, after all..."  
  
The tealette nodded in response to the question. "Please take care of onee-chan for me!" She requested.  
  
Onee-chan? Who? Was she refferering to... "Hina-chan, who is your 'onee-chan' again..?" asked Tsugumi.  
  
All of a sudden, her vision started to blur in and out. What the Hell is happening now? And to add to that, she was starting to feel a bit weak and flimsy too...  
  
"Hey! Hey!" The other girl called out to her.  
  
Alas, the poor brunette couldn't exactly hear what her new friend was saying, as her ability to hear was slowly going away, too. What exactly is going on?  
  
"You're waking up!" Hina shouted, hoping that her voice would reach her new 'friend'. "We won't be able to meet again for a while, but please take care of onee-chan for me!"

ーーーーーーーー

Light.  
  
Someone was softly tugging at her arm, and something was being wrapped onto it.  
  
Tsugumi opened her eyes to see that a girl, a tealette similar to Hina, was tending to her wounded arm. She was wrapping the injured limb with what seems to be a large piece of cloth that was made out of smaller ones that were sewn together.  
  
She wanted to try to thank whoever that girl was, but upon noticing that she was awake, the girl fled the scene, accompanied by a nearby sound of laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to the Roselia -Ewegkeit- Delayed Live Viewing on Sunday! If any other Malaysians wanna meet up, just shoot something in the comments! I'll most probably be at the arcade before the viewing starts, hahah.


End file.
